ENERGY STAR Labeled Building Profile

Houston's Shriners Hospital for Children was built in 1996 and our 248,775 sq. ft. of space is dedicated entirely to children's acute care specialty services. As with the other 21 Shriners hospitals, our hospital is unique because it does not have a billing department -- all of our operations and services are funded by donations from individuals and corporations.

Our energy management team is made up of an energy manager, four engineers, a laborer, a biotech professional, and a secretary. Since beginning our Energy Management Initiative in 1997, our team has reduced our hospital's utility costs by 40%.

When we first benchmarked our building in 2002 using ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager, we received a below average rating of 42 (for 1996 data). We originally began investigating energy efficient strategies in 1998 and instituted several low-cost operations and maintenance opportunities as well as made two technology upgrades that improved our rating to 75 within a couple of years. Details of our upgrades include:

Lighting: We installed LED exit signs that use 1/10 the ampacity of a standard sign. We also installed occupancy sensors in public areas and mechanical timers in non-public areas to keep the lights off when areas are not in use.

Fan Systems: We balanced the air and water systems throughout the hospital, decreasing kWh by 68,900 in nine months, and installed energy-efficient motors and variable frequency drives.

HVAC: We installed new, energy-efficient motors and two new chilled water pumps. For one section of the hospital, we installed a split-HVAC system so that rooms are air conditioned by the larger part (87.6 ton) of the system when they are fully occupied and by the smaller (1.5 ton) when they are not.

With the enhanced split-HVAC system in place, we interlocked the new A/C unit through the energy management system, allowing only one of the units to operate at a time. HVAC certification and refrigeration maintenance were considered essential to optimize performance.

Our energy savings translate directly into increased funding for the mission of our hospital - to provide the quality of pediatric orthopedic care necessary to allow children the opportunity to be productive and involved members of their communities.

Communications:

We have communicated with our employees, board of directors, our headquarters, and our community through emails and phone calls. Our communication to headquarters led to the implementation of energy efficiency efforts at that hospital.

Testimonial:

"While some facility managers don't think that they have the funding or time necessary for energy saving measures, we believe that they can't afford not to look at opportunities to increase their efficiency. Our technologies and operational changes save a significant amount of money every month -- money we can use to further the mission of our hospital."

Please note: Narrative information in this profile has been provided by Shriners Hospitals for Children or a representative of this facility. Other building information was verified and submitted to EPA at the time of application. Building energy performance, operating characteristics, and ownership/management may be subject to change over time.